“Original Godspell Cast - Prologue/Tower of Babble”

[@joserivera8875]

Nothing is more brilliant, clever and fun than the way the original production of GODSPELL was staged. Simplicity was the key, keeping it child like. Remember find your inner clown and "Keep the corners of your mouth turned up. Speak in a low, persuasive tone. Listen; Be teachable. Laugh at good stories and learn to tell them... for as long as you are green, brother, you can grow" Thank you Peggy Gordon for sharing these great videos of the original cast!

[@Tarotlynx]

That was incredible. Thank you for uploading this, Ms. Gordon. I've heard the Tower of Babble, but have never actually seen it before.

[@thatoneannoyingsoprano8066]

i’ve been waiting so long for a recording of this from the og cast! i was in the ensemble in our production and played sartre, i’ve always wondered what direction you guys took it in. thank you for taking the time to upload these for us fans, we really enjoy them (every time you upload a new video, i go to my friends and say “peGGY GORDON UPLOADED A NEW RECORDING” and we all freak out and watch it together) ps. when i told my group chat that you replied to my comment, they all blew it up with thousands of texts of “oh my god!!!”

[@larkluster]

That is so sweet. I'm doing this "carefully." Hold on! More is coming tonight!

[@kylereidhass7333]

I'm setting out to direct this show, and it's very helpful to see the way you guys did this! Thank you. :)

[@saintcaecilia]

We start Tech week today of the Laguna Playhouse’s production of Godspell! This is so cool to watch! Thank you so much for uploading these!😍

[@daingore]

This is incredible ❤

[@objetty11]

So cool to see new material from you. It's been awhile, was that due to contractual reasons. mahalo

[@AweInDivineTime]

✨Excellent! 🤩

[@revelanthony1991]

Y’all I just got out of a Godspell production and KZbin is really out here trying to make me cry

[@daingore]

I can't find the original Broadway cast recording of this song anywhere online...the movie version didn't include this song, and the other versions aren't the same...

[@lyrarities1025]

It was never recorded in the original recording.

[@jackofalltr4des]

Looking through the comments, I saw that you mentioned that this sequence was originally spoken, as opposed to being put to music. If you would be so kind as to indulge me with an answer, I’d like to ask how the counterpoint sections were played through (Da Vinci and Gibbon, and Sartre and Fuller), and whether or not the “So high in my lovely ivory tower of babble” section was in the staging of this as it was spoken. Thank you for taking the time to read this comment, and thank you for putting these videos up! I love seeing the original stagings and scripts of shows, as I feel they help me understand the show itself better, so this was a delightful surprise to find in my recommended watchlist. Godspeed!

[@larkluster]

The purpose of the prologue is singular and simple: after each philosopher has his/her "monologue" it's supposed to devolve into a visual disintegration of an existing order. We did it through faux fighting, pushing, shoving and throwing the garbage, seemingly randomly (actually, everything was perfectly placed in the spot it would be needed at some point during Act One by one of us). So, when Steve Schwartz came to see the show, he saw the individual monologues which then exploded into a spoken chorus (it was far more visually "violent" for the audience when it was spoken ALL AT ONCE.) So, Steve came up with the idea of making the choral part of this a bit more organized both from a visual and an auditory standpoint. So, the counterpoint sections were originally individual monologues (I was originally Sartre). It was Steve's idea to create those counterpoints, I think to save time, since musicalizing the prologue made it much longer. I hope this helps?

[@jackofalltr4des]

@@larkluster Sorry that this is so late in response! This is incredibly helpful! The blocking you describe it is an incredibly cool idea to conceptualize, and imagine how it might play out with the destruction of order and how that fits into the larger themes of the musical. Thank you for doing as much as you do for all of us on KZbin, and thank you for being so helpful when people when ask these questions.

[@goatlovesllama]

Thank you so much for sharing these, Peggy! :) Getting to see these performances in full brings me a really unique kind of joy

[@larkluster]

This is exactly how we first did it at Cherry Lane after Steve Schwartz musicalized it. It used to be spoken. It's supposed to be a visual disintegration of an existing order (thus, the dramatic problem is set up that the show then goes on to resolve). And, yes, the Fuller quote is pivotal to what the show is about.

[@Rpxvision261]

How come this number isn't including on the off-Broadway cast recording? It seems like a pretty integral introduction!

[@larkluster]

Good question! It's possible there were copyright issues.

[@lukeelhusko9898]

I remember Stephen Schwartz said in one interview the prologue would be a little bit insane for introducing the album, it's better to start with Prepare Ye just as a better commercial decision. I think the Prologue it's a great opening number, actually one of my favorites songs of Godspell and I felt so happy when they included the Acapella version in the revival cast album ❤

[@that_orange_hat]

didn't gilmer mccormick start off the show as socrates? correct me if i'm wrong, but i thought it was her.

[@larkluster]

No, it was ALWAYS Jeffrey, even when the prologue was spoken. I was Sartre when it was spoken, then Steve Schwartz moved me to Thomas Acquinas when he musicalized it because I was the only one who could sing it without taking a breath. All the other decisions he made, similarly, based on vocal range.

[@that_orange_hat]

Peggy Gordon ah ok, thanks for telling me! yeah, the thomas aquinas part is hard- i sang it for an audition and BOY was it difficult. would you happen to remember what the other cast members’ philosopher parts were?

[@larkluster]

Everyone on this shoot for Sony was an original cast member with the exception of these four who had been understudies in the original New York production OR had done these roles in other companies: Patti Mariano who was subbing for Robin Lamont who couldn't fly out from New York to do this in LA; same with Bob Garrett subbing for Lamar Alford, Marley Sims subbing for Joanne Jonas and Jeannie Lange (David Haskell's wife) who was subbing for Sonia Manzano who was in New York shooting Sesame Street. So, this will be the way you can tell who sang which part originally. After I sang Thomas Acquinas, Martin Luther was Lamar; Davinci was Gilmer; Gibbon was Sonia; Nietzsche was Robin; Sartre was Joanne and Buckminster Fuller was Herby. It's so funny watching this and how Gilmer and I staged our faux "fighting,"

[@that_orange_hat]

Peggy Gordon thank you for answering!!